Profile: Few individuals had as significant an influence on professional hockey as former
NHL President Clarence S. Campbell. He demonstrated unshakeable faith in his principles
while moving with the times when necessary. Campbell presided over the
NHL during its most dramatic period of change while going down in history as one
of the key sports administrators of the 20th Century.

Born in Fleming,
Saskatchewan in 1905, Campbell was an outstanding student and avid sportsman
in his youth. In 1924 he graduated from the University of Alberta with a degree
in law and arts and earned a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in the
United Kingdom. During this period he studied refereeing and worked several hockey
and lacrosse matches in Europe.

He returned to Canada after six
years at Oxford when the country was in the throngs of the Great Depression.
He took a low paying job with an Edmonton law firm and officiated for the Canadian
Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA).

Clarence Campbell's proficiency
as a referee attracted NHL officials and he was hired by NHL president Frank
Calder at the start of the 1936 season. He quickly established himself as one
of the better referees in the league. By the spring of 1937, he was assigned to
the Stanley Cup semifinals between the Red Wings and Canadiens. He was the referee
the night Howie Morenz's career came to an end as a result of a broken leg
on January 28, 1937.

Campbell enlisted as a private in the Canadian
Army in 1940 but quickly rose through the ranks until he ended up commanding
the 4th Armored Division. In 1945 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.
In the aftermath of the war he was appointed the prosecution lawyer for the
Canadian War Crimes Commission at the Nuremberg trial of Nazi Kurt Meyer, convicted
of executing innocent Canadian prisoners-of-war. Campbell was awarded the
Order of the British Empire and made King's Counsel.

When he returned
to North America in 1946, Clarence Campbell was offered the job of assistant
to NHL president Mervyn "Red" Dutton. A few months later, at the NHL's semi-annual
meetings in Montreal, Dutton resigned and recommended Campbell as his successor.

Within
the first few years of his tenure, Campbell increased
the number of NHL regular season games from 50 to 70 and started the NHL All-Star
Game. Most importantly he initiated the breakthrough NHL Pension Plan with
contributions from the players and the league.

In response to the difficulties
faced by the Chicago Black Hawks and Boston Bruins on the ice and at
the gate in the early 1950s, Campbell started the Inter-League Draft. This allowed
the weaker teams to access the young talent hoarded by the richer clubs,
especially Toronto and Montreal. In 1955 he showed unflappable leadership by suspending
Montreal icon Maurice Richard then refusing to shy away from attending
a game at the Montreal Forum. The Richard Riot was well documented but Campbell's
leadership on behalf of the league in the face of a hostile crowd was less
appreciated.

Clarence Campbell oversaw the advent of the NHL's expansion
era. Between 1967 and 1975 the league tripled in size and its popularity was
more widespread in North America than in any previous period. He met the challenge
of the World Hockey Association head on and refused to allow players not
under contract to NHL teams to participate in the 1972 Summit Series between Canada
and the USSR. The most notable exclusion under this corollary was former
Chicago star Bobby Hull.

When Campbell, who was elected into the Hockey
Hall of Fame in 1966, stepped down as NHL president in 1977, one of the most
significant epochs in NHL history came to an end. The league had already honored
him by naming one of the two league conferences and the Clarence S. Campbell
Bowl after him. His 31-year reign stood as the yardstick against which all succeeded
NHL leaders would be measured.

Although the Western Conference
is no longer named after him the Western Conference Champions receive the
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl on the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.